Cleanse Day 0: Shop Til You Drop

October 8, 2005

If you're planning to cleanse, you need to know how "strange" it feels the day before.

Now I've fasted, with just water, for 36 hours. That's an easy thing, because you can almost taste your next meal. I've even "consecrated" for weeks, where you limit certain foods (like junk and red meat), but continue to live a fairly normal life.

But committing to 10-20 days of no solid food does something to the brain as the day approaches.

My first instinct was a large or "junky" farewell meal. Yet somehow, as the evening approached, my taste buds went on strike. Were they angry at me, or just helping me keep from gorging and making the beginning of the cleanse a nightmare? I don't know, but I thank them anyway.

I rarely see people talk about the shopping spree, required to get all of the ingredients. It's not like a regular trip to the health food store - I guess because your brain is still trying to make logic of days with no familiar food.

The strangest part was selecting the right sized bottles to make the lemonade in. A serving is 10 oz, so I found 20 and 30 oz bottles of some strange drink. The wide mouth was the key... don't wanna need a funnel to pour in the lemonade! I promptly disposed of the nasty drink in the bottles. When was the last time you shopped for a drink to harvest the bottle? Kinda like Buying a $20 CD for your one favorite song.

I almost forgot the Senna laxative tea. That would not have been pretty.

As for my "last meal"... it turned out to be a small bag of organic pretzels and a bowl of cereal.

End the prep. The show is ON.